Amazon Alexa is getting more options for actions that can be incorporated into the voice AI’s routines. This feature lets users assemble a set of actions from the smart speaker triggered by a single voice command. Initially limited to news, weather, traffic, and smart home skills, routines can now incorporate music, podcast, and radio content. Continue Reading
TuneIn announced a new subscription offering specifically for accessing its audio content on Amazon Alexa. TuneIn Live offers access to premium live audio from the company, including news stations, talk shows, and professional sporting events, on smart speakers. Continue Reading
It was only a matter of time before two of the biggest trends in the tech world crossed paths. There’s a new skill for Amazon Alexa called DeepMusic that plays songs composed by artificial intelligence over a smart speaker. Click to listen. Continue Reading
Voxmatic is looking to put voice commands into the hands of podcasters large and small. The business has launched a free platform for the creation personal skills on the Amazon Alexa platform for podcasters. Its starter kit offers individual skill/flash briefing publishing. It plans to add a professional package later this year. Continue Reading
The Infinite Dial kicked off with a look at ownership trends in technology and media. Most telling, the research from Edison and Triton focused on the growth in smart speakers. Awareness of the device segment was 71% for Amazon Alexa, up from 57% last year, while Google Home awareness rose from 45% in 2017 to 56% in 2018. Considering the recent ad blitzes for the segment, John Rosso joked that those who haven’t heard of them are “probably living in caves and staring at their tablets.” Continue Reading
Amazon has updated Alexa to accommodate some more complex and subtle voice commands for music listening. The voice system can now react to contextual requests based around time, such as “Alexa, play Rihanna songs I haven’t heard in a while” or “Alexa, play the hip-hop music I was listening to last week.” Continue Reading
Deezer announced that it is adding support for voice commands with Amazon Alexa. This integration will begin gradually rolling out in 66 countries beginning today. Deezer will be available on the Amazon Echo and any other devices that support the Alexa voice AI system. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia has debuted a new self-service offering called Voice Cast for Podcasts for creating custom skills for Amazon Alexa. The service is now available to all podcasters and supports all English language markets. XAPPmedia shared the pertinent details directly with RAIN News. Continue Reading
Amazon has shared its financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2017. “Our 2017 projections for Alexa were very optimistic, and we far exceeded them. We don’t see positive surprises of this magnitude very often — expect us to double down,” Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said. Continue Reading
The Amazon Alexa voice control platform will be getting integrations with Windows 10 PCs from multiple manufacturers. HP, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer all said they will have Alexa support in some of their laptops and desktops being released this year. The companion app for using Alexa on those machines is slated for release in the spring of 2018. Continue Reading
Cumulus Media announced that it has launched Amazon Alexa voice skills for 300 local radio stations, which it says marks the largest collection of custom Alexa skills in the United States. This push includes popular Westwood One brands and Christmas radio. It partnered with XAPPmedia for the project. Continue Reading
The BBC has rolled out its first full voice app, creating Amazon Alexa skills for all of its radio stations and podcasts. The skills include controls such as play, pause, and resume. This move expands the broadcaster’s content available on devices running Amazon’s voice assistant platform. Continue Reading